


Everything of Importance

by sorrel_forbes



Series: Case Studies [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Ciphers, Cryptography, Epistolary, Gen, Pencil Case - Freeform, Textile Art, The Hounds of Baskerville, puzzle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-06
Updated: 2013-09-06
Packaged: 2017-12-25 19:28:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/956793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorrel_forbes/pseuds/sorrel_forbes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John was mistaken. He thought it was because he'd tried to read too much into the situation out at Dartmoor, but Sherlock makes a case to show him that actually he hadn't inferred enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Everything of Importance

**Author's Note:**

> Made in celebration of the inspirational drinkingcocoa's birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter 2 for cryptographic notes.


	2. Cryptographic Notes

Like John, you may have noticed a suspicious-looking series of dots and dashes about the place. You, however, would not have been reading too much into the situation to suppose they were deliberate. 

Substituting each stripy print square for a dash, each spotty print square for a dot, and each textured or black square for a gap (and reading from left to right, top to bottom) the pencil case encodes a message in Morse: 

U    . . _   
M    _ _   
Q    _ _ . _   
R    . _ .   
A    . _ 

Similarly, on the front of the envelope: 

Q    _ _ . _   
T    _   
H    . . . .   
?    . . _ _ . . 

is Morse Q code for ‘What is your location?’, while on the back: 

Q    _ _ . _   
T    _   
H    . . . . 

denotes ‘My location is...’ The sequence at the beginning of the letter is the Morse prosign for ‘begin transmission’:   
_ . _ . _ 

and the sequence at the end is the prosign for ‘end transmission’:   
. . . _ . _ 


End file.
